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Hormigueros.- If there is one place in Hormigueros you can enjoy the most original fusion of pizza flavors, it would be PizzAntello, located in the municipality’s urban market.

Its owner, Ricardo González-Sánchez, gives free rein to his imagination. With the dough he captures the flavors of other dishes, seeking new taste experiences for his customers. The mixes are as exotic as the Thousand Island Pizza, which seeks to bring the freshness of a Caesar salad to a pizza. Or the Cordon Bleu Pizza, made by using precisely the same ingredients as those in the succulent chicken breast dish.

The flavors of cielito lindo—a specialty of Mexican cuisine—overflows in their Pizza Mexicana, while ripe plantains and ground beef merge in Pizza de Piñón. In total, there are more than 15 delicacies that populate the PizzAntello menu. Of course, you cannot miss their pizzas made to the customer’s request, or traditional pizzas, such as the combination or supreme pizzas, cheese pizza, pepperoni pizza or Italian sausage pizza, among others.

Beyond being a meal, for González-Sánchez, pizza is an experience of life, of his life, that he seeks to share with his customers. “My family’s happiest moments were eating pizza,” revealed the 53-year-old business owner. He recalled his childhood trips from Mayagüez to Aguada to visit a pizzeria and share with his mom, dad and four siblings. “It was a moment we could spend together. For me, pizza unites the family. It brings people together. For us it was like going to Disney,” he recalled.

With those yearnings from his childhood as his motivation, González-Sánchez presented a proposal on at least one occasion to establish his pizzeria in one of the places available at Hormigueros’ urban market. But he was not successful that first time. It was not until all the cards seemed to have been placed against him that the opportunity arose. “I’m a victim or a product of the pandemic. I was working in marketing for a liquor company and I was left unemployed with the pandemic. At that time, this place was emptied. I had already requested for it on one occasion, but they didn’t give it to me. Then I submitted another proposal and I [finally] got it,” he said. As soon as the opportunity to establish his long-awaited pizzeria became a reality, González-Sánchez began looking for a name for his business. “I was looking for a way to include Hormigueros in the name that wasn’t ‘Hormiguero’s Pizza.’ So, we have pizza, the word ‘hormiga’ which is ‘ant’ in Spanish. And although ‘ello’ sounds Italian, the word antelo refers to desires, yearnings. And that’s where the name ‘PizzAntello’ comes from.”

Given the restrictions on social distancing and people crowding —set to stop the spread of Covid-19— the location of the small kiosk, with its outdoor tables in the vicinity of the old Hormigueros public car terminal, allowed it to operate successfully under the circumstances. “People would pick up their pizza and take it away. Or since the space available is large and the tables are outside, they would sit there to eat,” he said.

Once the restrictions of the pandemic were lifted, González-Sánchez explained that some weekends they close the street and bring groups to delight customers with live music. With four employees on his staff, and two years since he opened his doors, the merchant does not rule out expanding his business. He is not fully decided, though, primarily due to the difficulty in recruiting workmanship.

However, in the short term, the business owner is considering other alternatives, such as offering a home delivery service by joining one of the mobile applications available, and further expanding his already varied menu.